Dated Enemies
by Guavant
Summary: Falling in love may not necessarily feel like falling flat on your face. A series of Kai/Gaillard drabbles inspired by prompts from the "30 Days of Writing: A Drabble A Day" Challenge posted on Tumblr.
1. beginning

**01—beginning **

Neither of them knew that the moment when Gaillard punched Kai in the face, and Kai allowed himself to be punched in the face, marked the beginning of them moving away from thinking of their interactions as 'me versus him'. Sure, it didn't happen in an instant, but the fact still stands—cardfighters weren't supposed to touch each other, but they did. Violently.

There was also a lot of violence in the next time Gaillard touched Kai, and Kai allowing himself to be touched. They were kissing in a way that suggested that the brushing of their mouths was a mere excuse to nip each other on the lips. The tiny sparks of pain that they inflicted on each other made the act skirt the borderline between an invitation of intimacy and a tentative attack.

Kai had Gaillard up against a wall. Gaillard had the fingers of his hand twisted in Kai's hair. Kai pulled Gaillard closer by the waist, in order for Gaillard to better hurt him.

"Go on," Gaillard said, panting against the side of Kai's neck. "Say that you hate me."

"I don't hate you." Kai whispered against Gaillard's ear. "I don't even dislike you."

Gaillard moved both hands onto Kai's shoulders and pushed him away at arm's length to check for signs of sincerity in Kai's expression. Kai had no idea whether he still looked as stoic as ever. For a good measure, he looked directly at Gaillard and sucked on the tiny indentations of Gaillard's teeth on his bottom lip. Gaillard's eyes widened at that, puncturing the mask of neutrality that he had assumed in their interlude.

"Do you still hate me?" Kai asked.

"I don't want to punch your face anymore." Gaillard affirmed.

To bring home his point, he gently rested his palms against Kai's cheeks and pulled Kai back into his personal space to kiss him. Kai allowed himself to be kissed. Gently.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Turns out that Legion Mate may be ending very soon. We may not get to see Bluish flames as often next season, so have these drabbles and never forget this sick burn ship.


	2. accusation

**02—accusation **

When they parted ways on the day Gaillard returned to France, both of them had agreed to accept that what's done is done. Yet late at night, Kai lay on his bed and willfully reminded himself of the sins that Gaillard had previously accused him of comitting: putting the world in danger and destroying everyone's happiness. This had become part of his bedtime routine, not only to remind himself not to make the same mistakes again, but also to try to remember the exact conditions in which he had made them.

If only Kai could better recall the doing behind what was done. He tried to overcome the imperfections of his memory, to sharpen the details of the places that he went and the people he had hurt, often to the point of incurring a migraine.

Then he reached a breakthrough. Sometimes it happened that he could immerse himself in a past experience, as long as it involved Vanguard. While deigning to take note of the identities of his opponents, Kai still managed to remember the course of his every cardfight.

This time, he had managed to dredge up the old memory of his missed meeting with Olivier Gaillard. When he stepped into the compound of the French orphanage, the first person he encountered was not the distinguished player, but a kid. A smiling kid waving a Vanguard deck at him.

Kai said 'yes' to the game. Later, when he roamed around town to find the actual Gaillard, he abruptly couldn't take another step upon realizing that he was far from the vicinity of any Vanguard tables. It had taken hold of him, the need to crush other people, crush whomever. He went back to Japan afterwards, where he could pick an endless number of fights.

He left the bed to tell all this to Gaillard over the phone. "I'm telling you this so you'll know. In case I won't remember, when my memory needs to be erased again." Kai said.

"I won't do that. I prefer you to be like this, thinking deeply about how wrong you are." Gaillard replied. "Do you know what I'm doing right now?"

"Drinking coffee?" Kai guessed.

"Wine, actually," Gaillard said. "Hey, go grab a paper and a pencil. I'm going to tell you the good times to call me and teach you about time zones."

Kai did just that. Soon, he had brought out his school calculator as well. Gaillard had moved on to informing him about which necessities he could buy in France and omitt from his packing if he decided to train in France. Kai was in the midst of converting the price of a spaghetti strainer from Yen to Euro, when he remembered that he had actual math problems to complete.

"Sorry, I have to stop." Kai said, cutting Gaillard's torrent of information short. "I have homework to do."

"You're such an irresponsible brat," Gaillard scoffed.

The admonishment was the last of Gaillard that Kai heard before the dial tone echoed in Kai's ear. 'At least he makes a good distraction,' Kai thought. He put down the phone, went to fetch his schoolwork and spent most of the rest of the night wondering if he would come to like eating disgusting French food.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** In most cases, the only way in which I can see Gaillard taking care of Kai is by indirectly making Kai take care of himself. On a semi-related note, escargot is delicious.


	3. restless

**03—restless**

When Kai left home to buy his groceries, he did not expect to return to find two flashy robbers trying to break into his apartment. He paused by the lift to catalogue their physical features for the police report. They were both young men. The one who was attempting to unlock his door with a credit card was a lanky redhead and his accomplice was short and had turquoise hair.

Wait a minute. Those were his mates.

After registering that fact, Kai strode to his apartment and confronted Ren and Gaillard directly. "Step aside, before my stuff rots."

"One moment." Ren said, not bothering to face Kai and stop his criminal activity.

'Why am I friends with this guy again?' Kai thought, though the question had become rhetorical after he had gotten used to Ren's presence again. He did not realized he had voiced it out loud until Gaillard muttered under his breath, "Because he's awesome, of course."

Instantly, he looked at Kai, as if readying himself for a verbal sparring. Kai would be willing to humor him for a while, as he had done, since Gaillard's visit usually promised a cardfight of high quality afterwards. But then Ren pushed against Kai's door handle, and Kai kept his mouth shut. The presence of this third party ( he who tends to know too much) had put a damper on his willingness to be openly rude.

Kai would sooner unlock his door with dormant psychic powers than convince Ren to cease. As he and Gaillard stood in the awkward silence with nothing to do, Kai decided to experiment with hospitality. He reached into the grocery bag he was carrying and took out a carton of milk that would otherwise be sacrificed to the afternoon heat.

"Want a drink?" He asked, gesturing the milk at Gaillard.

"Are you trying to be funny?" Gaillard snapped at him.

"How?" Kai honestly had no idea what he was supposed to be doing.

"By implying that I'm a growing boy who needs his milk," Gaillard said, "I'd say, you're the growing boy around here. One who probably gets a kick out of forcing his milk-like substance on other people."

"What milk-like substance?"

"Semen."

A normal boy would be embarrassed by saying that to his adversary, but Gaillard stood firm and looked expectantly at Kai. Kai needed to buy some time to think about what to say next, lest he give the impression that Gaillard had succeeded in silencing him. He took a sip of the actual milk in his hand.

"Not today," he finally said.

The clicking sound of Kai's door being unlocked reminded them that they were in public. "Yahoo, I did it," Ren announced, waving his card about for emphasis. Upon closer examination, Kai noticed that it was actually a Vanguard card.

"Oh, this is my actual credit card. My entire deck is insured for five times the amount in it." Ren explained.

Kai ought to know better, but he couldn't stop his brain from instinctively striving to process what Ren had just said. With his mind occupied, he didn't think twice to catch when Ren tossed him the Vanguard-credit card. Gaillard took the opportunity to grab his grocery bag and pocket Kai's wallet, along with his keys. In the next moment, Ren and Gaillard were indoors and Kai was left locked out of his own apartment.

"Kai, don't worry!" Ren said from the other side of the door. "I know where your fridge is!"

Kai had to act fast. He looked down at the card he was holding and was about to slide it down the crevice in his door when he remembered that it contained money. He took out the phone he had left in his jacket's pocket, turned it on and scrolled for the number of the locksmith that Miwa had saved in it.

"Hello," he said. "Do you accept payment by credit card?"

In the middle of explaining the situation, he could hear Ren whispering to Gaillard: "See, I told you that he can use a Smartphone!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **When I write crack in this vein, it is chiefly because I answered 'no' to these questions: "Would I encounter a passage like this in any other fic or fictional work?" and "Would the crack in this passage still hold up if I were writing about a different ship in the same context?" Anyhow, I shall strive to be more insightful tomorrow.


	4. snowflake

**04—snowflake (NSFW) **

Gaillard learnt that being near to Kai Toshiki turned out to be a lot more comforting than keeping a distance from him. As they felt each other in the darkness of the hotel room, Gaillard admired the matter-of-fact attitude which Kai presented his body with. He remained steady whenever Gaillard touched a jutting bone or a sensitive spot, but no longer stiff like the last times they brought each other off.

The unexpectedness of Kai's quiet confidence initially intimidated Gaillard a little, then motivated him to imitate it in his responses. Kai was the last person that Gaillard would expect to radiate safeness, yet here they were. The method of knowing Kai's body was a lot like getting to know Kai's personality—to know each tiny angle his uniqueness was composed of while letting his icy centre be.

Lying down face to face on the soft double bed, Gaillard was freed from being self-conscious of his height and the bad habit of compensating for it. Even as his lust grew from hearing Kai's increasingly erratic moans, Gaillard was lucid enough to restrain himself from rolling on top of Kai or force him into any position that reinforced his vulnerability.

Nevertheless, Gaillard had enough sexual experience to know that there were other alternatives to make good use of Kai's submissiveness and maximize their combined pleasure than to physically dominate Kai. He took his time, occasionally kissing Kai on the cheek and at the side of Kai's lips amidst his light petting.

"Kai, turn to your side," Gaillard eventually whispered. "I'll do something good for you."

"Sure." Kai mumbled, turning and allowing Gaillard full access to his back.

Though Kai couldn't see it anyway, Gaillard hid his smile against the curve of Kai's spine. He eased his erection between Kai's thighs and started thrusting, going faster when he felt Kai rutting against him. When he reached down to satisfy Kai's front, he found Kai already stroking himself at a furious pace. As Gaillard joined their hands, spreading the thin film of precome and lube more evenly, Kai visibly relaxed and pressed himself even closer against Gaillard's chest.

They continued to lay close to each other after they had came. Gaillard only rolled away to light a filterless cigarette and rolled back to Kai's side to smoke it.

"I bet that it tastes like your mouth." Kai said, looking pointedly at the cigarette.

"None for you." Gaillard replied.

Still, in the spirit of the good night that they shared, he let Kai enjoy half of it.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I'm still a novice at writing fandom smut. Until the day when I can truly go wild on my word processor!


	5. haze (1)

**05—haze**

Kai could be that boy again.

The boy before the compounded betrayals, before weakness in the face of his friends' growing strength, before not belonging, before learning that his own strength made his friends weak, before being a sleep-deprived loner, before being left alone and before he thought dragons were more fearsome than knights.

In sum, before Kai was himself.

* * *

><p>Gaillard could never be that boy again.<p>

The boy to be relied on. The boy who scraped together smiles with paper cards. The boy who lived like someone a dreamer would want to become. The boy who journeyed across the continent, just to bring the continent back home. The boy who expanded his family. The boy who wore too much lace, but think it suited him just fine.

There was the Gaillard on Earth, and there was the Gaillard in space.

* * *

><p>What ought Kai do with his dragon clans?<p>

He needed to know where he could find them when he needed to, lest the history of the world be rewritten once more. He stored them in the bottom drawer of his sparse wardrobe. He locked them in the cupboard of the club room at school. Finally, he entrusted them to Miwa for safekeeping.

Only the knights were on his person.

* * *

><p>How did Gaillard end up being the unofficial leader of the Quatre Knights?<p>

He didn't even know if he could truly get along with these people until the end of his life. Nonetheless, he could, as always, be someone others could truly get along with.

_We are the Quatre Knights. We are above those who get in our way._

This was now his truth, his bluish flames.

* * *

><p>The running thread of Gaillard's hatred for Kai Toshiki was: 'Who does he think he is?'<p>

What Kai felt for Gaillard made him understand what others had felt about him. He often wonders, 'Will I ever understand him?'

* * *

><p>For the first time in his life, Kai had an answer to give.<p>

Gaillard had something to answer to.

* * *

><p>The burns of Judgment were invisible, but the injury that it had inflicted was real. The mixture of bluish flames and ordinary air created smoke that signaled Kai Toshiki's pain.<p>

For the first time since he started Vanguard, Gaillard had succeeded in literally bringing his opponent down onto his knees.

He wouldn't do that, in ordinary circumstances. He secretly hoped that Kai was a villain who would and searched the latter's eyes for confirmation. He was denied one as Kai stubbornly contorted his face to keep up the death glare which he had sustained towards the end of their fight.

_I'll consume your soul again and again with the flames of despair._

Gaillard meant it as both a threat and a promise. He went to the place that he was privileged to be, leaving Kai alone with the gravity of living with himself.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Tomorrow's drabble will be a continuation of this one, though I haven't decided if I would be using the same form. Stay tuned and stay hot!


	6. flame (2)

**06—flame **

_Where did the flame come from?_

_Surely not of this world. No known chemical would produce a fire that would damage the mind and not the body. A blessing for the good that was ultimately alien. _

When preparing himself for the pain of judgment, Kai did not imagine that it would include Gaillard striking him with his own hand. It was obvious that Gaillard desperately wanted to hurt him back, even if he had to resort to base means to do so once his powers had failed him.

Withstanding the blow, Kai kept himself upright. Gaillard could barely stand on his feet, and looked more like the victim.

There was a stillness within Kai's mind. It was the opposite of emptiness, as he went through his available options. He could punch Gaillard back. He could shout at Gaillard's face and insist that he had changed. He could point out that Gaillard was not the pure-hearted, loyal knight that he thought he was, and that he was as vengeful as any human would be to other humans who had made their life unbearable.

_Why did the flame exist in the first place? _

_The stakes are raised, but the game stays the same. This has all been decided by a distant god. You are either an honorary immortal, or a mortal denied of memory; of eternity. _

In what seemed like ages ago, Naoki kept bombarding Kai with questions as they roamed the winding maze of the Quatre Knights' headquarters. "How are they able to breathe on the moon?" "How are they able to build _this _on the moon?" "Why are they able to use magic Vanguard circles, and we can't?" "Hey, if all this depends on how strong you are at Vanguard, then does that mean you can technically do what they do?"

Kai's first instinct was to tell Naoki to shut up, but he checked himself and remembered that he had been thinking about those same things all along. It started when he had his first taste of superhuman reality, back when he walked the barren waste lands of Cray. It entered his mind then that anyone could be more than human, or less than

In the present, Kai watched the prison of blue flames form around him for the fourth time. He had gone through the two outcomes that the fiery field presented: either get burned himself or watch Gaillard burn.

In the end, both of them were made of flammable stuff.

_When will it be time to put out the flames?_

At the end of it all, Kai and Gaillard stared into their reflections in the Void. And then they realized that they could always look at each other. Gaillard was looking at Kai in the same way when Kai gave him permission to vent all his rage on him. His soft gaze was adulterated with a sense of restraint.

Just when Kai was sure that Gaillard was not about to acknowledge him, not just yet, Gaillard slipped off one of his rings. With measured movements, he held Kai's wrist with one hand and fastened the ring onto Kai's third finger.

"Go on, Kai Toshiki." He said. "Go on and tell fate to fuck off."

As Gaillard let go of Kai's hand and stepped away, Kai flicked his wrist and summoned a column of crimson flames.

"There you go," he said. "That's the colour of my flames."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **In sum, the only difference that matters is that they are essentially the same. Holy contradiction! TGIF, everyone :)


	7. formal

**07—formal **

What would it be like, having a formal game with Kai Toshiki? By 'formal', Gaillard meant playing purely for the sake of sportsmanship and following a formal arrangement, rather than expecting the other person's ambush. Now that times were peaceful again, it ought to be fine for Gaillard to call Kai out to assist each other in their training. For after all, aren't they recognized players on the same level?

Even with all his rationale, Gaillard remained unsure regarding navigating his interactions with Kai after returning to Earth. He went to Ren for advice, as Ren turned out to be one of Kai's oldest friends. They sat facing each other in Ren's office at the Foo Fighters headquarters, just like patient and shrink.

"Yes, you have to make it sound as formal as possible," Ren said. "Never make it sound like an invitation to socialize. That's his biggest turn-off."

"He is so unattractive as a person," Gaillard said, rolling his eyes. "Anyhow, I must thank you again for letting me use the Foo Fighters facilities."

"Why not," Ren said. "By the way, I have something for you. It suits the occasion."

He opened the bottom drawer of his desk and pulled out a long, black coat which he handed to Gaillard. It had a couple of gratuitous straps and buckles sewn onto it, yet it was overall subdued for Ren's fashion sense. But what was stranger was Ren insisting that Gaillard put it on right now.

Gaillard didn't mind, though. Ren was another man who appreciated looking good for everything and even if they had different tastes in clothes, Gaillard believed that their tastes were equally good.

However, things got even stranger after Gaillard had put on the coat. Upon arriving at the building for their appointed fight, Kai Toshiki did a double take upon setting his eyes on him. Gaillard involuntarily did a double take on his double take.

"That's my coat you're wearing," Kai claimed. "I knew Ren hid it away somewhere after the Asian Circuit."

"Kai Toshiki, are you insinuating that our friend is a thief?" Gaillard said, and added by force of habit, "I'm going to beat you to have you take that back. If you beat me, you can take this coat back."

"You're on," Kai said, without missing a beat.

Midway through their fight, Shinjou Tetsu came by to inform them that an extended thunderstorm was happening outside. With thunder in each other's eyes, they agreed to keep up their fight until their vision blurred. All right, so it was just Gaillard who was determined to do so, while Kai kept his eyes fixated on the coat.

When they had to finally leave because they needed to eat and sleep, the draft of the late night was already blowing strongly. Kai took a step outdoors, then stepped back in a second after. Gaillard spotted Kai's armful of gooseflesh and sighed. Damn this skin and bones man!

"All right," he conceded. "You may have the cold, since you get cold easily."

"I don't want it anymore." Kai predictably denied.

"If I could, I would make literal flames again to make everything hot. But obviously, that is past." Gaillard said.

He ignored Kai's protests as he took off his coat. When he moved behind to set it down firmly upon Kai's shoulders, he felt as if he was handling an uncanny mannequin. More uncanny was the gesture of Kai abruptly seizing Gaillard's wrists with both hands.

"You're cold yourself," Kai simply said.

An awkward pause, and then Gaillard said, "I think we can get Ren to lend us one of his coats."

"Do that, and don't return it to him," Kai suggested.

He was still keeping Gaillard close to him, since this was how body heat between two people was shared.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **I'm so attracted to the idea of Ren being sorority sisters in spirit with Gaillard while simultaneously being Kai's troll wingman. And yay, a week's worth of drabbles are done! On to the completion of next week's quota!


	8. companion

**08—companion (NSFW) **

The few romantic films that Gaillard had watched set up the expectation that lovers and the world will become synchronized at the beach. The sand would be soft and clean, the last rays of sunlight would accentuate their profiles and the touching of hands would be as natural as the foam caressing the shore.

That was how it would be, except that he was with Kai Toshiki, the most contrary bastard on Earth. The day part of their date was nearly at an end, and yet they still had not held hands. Every time Gaillard wanted to subtly make a move, Kai would take longer strides in a less than subtle manner. Every time! Gaillard clenched his fists to stop himself from using his hands to do other unromantic things, like tearing Kai's hair out.

Just as Gaillard considered calling it a day, Kai took a step backwards, grabbed Gaillard's wrist and pulled him along. He did not seem to intend to leave the beach as Gaillard noticed that they were merely heading to a lighthouse by the sea.

'Okay, I suppose this is good enough,' Gaillard rehearsed his grudging compliment in his head. 'Well done. You tried.'

He was so caught up in refining the snark in his comments that he barely registered being propped up against the lighthouse and Kai kneeling down before his crotch.

"You're crazy," Gaillard said, though he couldn't easily bring up a distinct moment when Kai was more sane.

Kai curved his palms around Gaillard's hips, looked up into his eyes and said in a calculated tone: "I like you best where you least expect to be."

Gaillard did not object to the hard-on he got. Neither did he object when Kai eased his shorts down to mid-thigh and inspected it with lips, teeth and tongue. What Gaillard objected to was that Kai had been saving himself for this filthy surprise, hence his unreciprocating behaviour that made Gaillard fidgety from late afternoon to early evening.

He ought to also make Kai suffer and aroused in equal measure. His impromptu revenge plan involved gradually turning up his (genuine) squirms and moans, untill the possibility of being caught in the act got on Kai's nerves.

Unfortunately, he had to prematurely terminate his plan when Kai paused to say, "Shut up, I won't get you off if I can't concentrate."

It got to the point when Gaillard couldn't stand his own loudness and had to cover his mouth with the back of his hand. Ejaculating drained him of his energy and afterwards, he pulled his shorts back on and sat down by Kai's side on the sand . From the corner of his eye, he watched Kai licking away the leftover semen around his lips and side-glance back.

Wary that he was blushing, Gaillard hurriedly complained, "I wish you would plan ahead on how to get clean now."

"The ocean is right there," Kai said, jerking his head towards the unending expanse of water.

Gaillard ignored him and asked out of politeness, "So should I blow you now?"

"Later, when we're inside," Kai said. "I don't like sand. It's irritating and it gets everywhere."

Gaillard did not plan for the annoyed look on Kai's face as he practically rolled on the floor laughing over Kai's unintentional reference, but he appreciated it anyway.

Later, they did spend the last minutes of daylight fooling around in the water.

"Go fuck yourself, Kai Toshiki!" Gaillard screamed as he assaulted Kai with a salty spray.

Kai tried to hide his smirk in the fading light as he splashed Gaillard right back.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Lots of ugly sobbing while watching today's episode and now it's time to prepare for next week's episode with more shippy drabbles and even more exploration of the flame metaphor. I'm all fired up!


	9. move

**09—move **

Gaillard would never knew whether Kai did take the initiative to advance their friendship, or whether it was all a matter of timing. Their renewed rivalry began not with a Vanguard competition, but out of all things, a misdirected picture of a stray cat.

The picture of the cat sleeping under an apartment stairwell looked cute and harmless enough, but it was the foreign number that sent it that made Gaillard pause. Before reasoning with himself that of course viruses can't be spread by text messages, he texted the unknown sender back:

_Who are you?_

The reply came an hour later.

_It's Kai Toshiki. Sorry, I meant to save the picture to my phone. _

Gaillard's next step ought to be to ask Kai where he got his number from and how he had accidentally selected it, once he got over his amusement that the most anti-social teenager on Earth had finally got himself connected to the wider social network. Before he could do so, Kai texted again:

_Want to have a fight through picture message? _

This was what Gaillard sent back:

_Sure. If you send me a kitty every time you'd like to have one. _

He was obviously teasing, and did not meant for it to be an informal contract that would bind the two of them. That was what it became as Gaillard received Kai's cat pictures, most without captions but some with. The strangest that Gaillard got was one of a black cat nonchalantly abusing a stag beetle with its paw. The caption read: 'This one hates fish. I don't know why.'

Gaillard had a feeling that Kai would turn frosty if he told the truth, and so he never failed to not turn Kai down. The time came when Gaillard had to clear the space in his phone and delete the cat pictures. He did so with great deliberation, scrolling and clicking through each one to check the captions. The reality of the strangeness of the way they communicate trickled over him bit by bit, until he could no longer resist the impulse to ask Kai:

_Why don't you ever send me pictures of your own life? _

Both of them had become a year older since they last saw each other's face. The reply came:

_I thought you're disinterested in seeing my face._

Gaillard hesitated on being honest, but opted to do so anyway.

_I think we've moved past that._

There were no more text messages for the rest of the night. Gaillard did not bother with sending a follow-up text, but still he waited to see what Kai made of it, even if he only replied with silence. He spent the next night lying on his stomach in bed, flicking through his deck with his phone hidden under his pillow.

Then a vibration alerted him that he had received Kai's answer. He opened a picture of a plate of omelette rice, complete with cabbage coleslaw and slices of tomato arranged to beautify it. The caption read: 'You always complain that you're hungry around this time.'

Gaillard thumped his face into his pillow once, scattering his cards, and retorted with:

_You could at least draw a cat's face with the ketchup, damn you. _

He was not the least mollified when Kai's reply came:

_Wait. I'm typing the recipe. _

'Use drafts!' Gaillard seethed internally until he recovered enough to give Kai this piece of advice. For better or for worse, they had moved on from Vanguard and cats.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **The author lives, and she is one of the anti-social ones who have yet to own a smartphone. Until the far away future, when I am in the position to write more detailed and less pointless 'Kai's relationships are furthered due to his new ability to use a smartphone'.


	10. silver

**10—silver **

As he stayed under Kai's roof, Olivier Gaillard continued to polish his skills. Part of his routine was to force Kai to live like the European golden boy that he was. There was no need for Kai to abuse the snooze button now that Gaillard had made his alarm clock obsolete.

"Come on, morning training will be good for you." Gaillard demanded as he pried Kai's comforter away from his sleeping form. "Get up, and let's have one game before you go to school."

Barely thinking, Kai slurred an excuse that he had heard Morikawa use ages ago, "It'll cut into my jacking off time."

"Morning wood doesn't take that long to settle." Gaillard retorted and attempted to pull Kai's pillow from beneath his head. "Go multitask in the shower. Think of it as making good use of a top class player living with you."

Kai was sure that there could be dirty undertones to what Gaillard had said, but he didn't bother to summon the mental energy required to read into it. Heck, he could barely even read the numbers on his cards as he humored Gaillard at the living room table. It took longer than he had expected for Gaillard to throw in the towel and call off their game for later when Kai was at least literate enough for a card game.

By the time Kai returned home, his interest had finally reached the level that Gaillard desired that day. Yet Kai could hardly sense his unwanted roommate's presence when he stepped through the front door. He tossed aside his school blazer, drank a glass of water and waited. Then he heard sniffling sounds from the other side of the bathroom door.

He knocked two quick raps against it and asked, "Are you mad at me or what?"

The reply came after a succession of stifled sobs. "Yes, and also mad at me. I bet you wanted to laugh when I confessed that I've liquidated all my assets."

"I did not find it funny at all." Kai said.

He wanted to admit that he was somewhat burdened in the first few days of putting Gaillard up, but that was useless information.

"I'm a penniless man, okay? I have nothing," Gaillard gasped. "Except this irrational desire of denying you the use of your own sanitation facilities for at least a few hours."

There was no way for Kai to restore Gaillard's rationality through language alone. Silence re-asserted itself in the apartment as Kai leaned against the wall while considering how to communicate. He took a chance, fetched Gaillard's deck from the side table in Kai's room and returned to sit before the closed bathroom door while shifting through the Gold Paladin cards.

Shortly after, Gaillard received Percival when it was slipped through the crevice between the door and the floor.

"You have that." Kai stated.

He heard an awkward squawk from the other end and guessed that Gaillard was trying to laugh.

"Kai Toshiki, how dare you manhandle my cards."

"I dare."

Bit by bit, Kai passed the rest of the Gold Paladin cards in the same manner for Gaillard to use until Gaillard chose to be seen again.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Maybe some time this week I'll have more energy to tenderize my weird fluff. Believe it or not, I've spent my entire commuting time today thinking about Gaillard with zero earthly resources and Kai as an unwilling teenage sugar daddy. Anyhow, with this, one-third of the challenge is complete!


	11. prepared

**11—prepared**

Approximately two months after Kai consented to allow Gaillard to squat at his place, Kai woke up to find them together in a place nowhere near the vicinity of his apartment. Considering the plush carpet and the wooden single bed in the middle of the room, they were most likely in a motel room. The strangest thing was that they weren't even using the bed and were instead just lying at the doorway.

Gaillard had fallen asleep on Kai's chest and had drooled an indecent amount on his shirt. Kai searched his pockets to assure himself that he had his wallet with him. It was there, along with a key that was most likely for the room and the business card of Card Capital. Aside from that, he did not notice any clues that would give him a clue on how they got there last night.

It would honestly be less bizarre if they were in a love hotel rather than this room with décor straight out of a travel brochure. Kai had no idea if there even existed any non-seedy place that would allow a minor and a man easily mistaken for a minor to rent a room for the entire night, and so decided to ask someone who was more informed about such matters.

Carefully slipping out from under Gaillard, Kai stole out of the room to use the phone at the front desk. He retrieved the business card and dialed the number of Card Capital.

As expected, Tokura answered the phone.

"Morning. Is Miwa there yet?" Kai asked.

"It's his free day." Tokura replied. "What's wrong? You sound very far away."

"I'm still in Japan," Kai said. He studied his surroundings once more and caught sight of a painting with dancing stick figures loaded with golden jewelry about ten times their weight. "I think."

"Tell me exactly what happened," Tokura said, "and whether we need to drive down and get you."

"I can get back by myself. It's just…Gaillard's with me."

"You're not going to leave him behind, are you?"

"I won't. I'm sure we did…things last night. I didn't even know that I wanted to be in the same room as him, just to do ordinary things."

Their conversation paused there. Kai resisted his urge to hang up and forced himself to remain patient to hear Tokura's response. His admissions slid out easily here way beyond his comfort zone—in his discomfort zone, even—and if he had learnt anything about traversing the cosmic world, it was to make the best out of where he was.

"Do you regret doing ordinary things with him?"

"No."

"Do you want to go home with him?"

"Yes."

"There's a good chance that you like him, then. It's good to like people, Kai."

Kai knew. He assured Tokura once again that he could return on his own and ended the call. Upon returning to the room, he made sure to take care not to bang into Gaillard when opening the door. Then he heard sounds of retching from the toilet and deduced that there was where Gaillard had resorted to.

He leaned against the toilet door as Gaillard slowly raised his face, giving Kai a full view of his flushed cheeks and hideous eye bags.

"Kai Toshiki. Don't drink. It's bad for you." Gaillard warned haltingly before proceeding with his vomiting spree.

Kai was not being mean when he smirked to himself. He was absolutely prepared to like Gaillard now.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **I really like writing about Gaillard as being less than the goody two-shoes he tries so hard to be and Kai as being calmly adventurous about their growing relationship. Until the next writing day, when I can perhaps come up with an idea to write about Canon Compliant hateboners.


	12. knowledge

**12—knowledge**

Once the scars of the first burns had faded away, the knowledge that Gaillard hated Kai proved to be a relief for Kai. The only thing that Kai hated about his enemies was when he couldn't see them. Other than that, he accepted that they exist for someone—him, or someone stronger—to put in their place.

The space between defeat and victory though, remained as ambiguous as ever. Whenever and wherever Kai went to have his wounds treated, it was as if he had to keep going through the process of explaining to the world that he was a loser. Yes, he would tell the baffled or bored doctors, he too had thought that sustaining nerve damage without superficial damage was impossible.

* * *

><p>People still hurt on the moon. What Gaillard would never tell Kai Toshiki was that his conviction in his bluish flames did not extend to the knowledge of its first spark. Not that he would ever deign to have a conversation that would make him vulnerable to the traitor of their world.<p>

'You don't know shit about him,' his conscience hissed at him the second time he played a hand in stepping on Kai Toshiki's feelings.

'You think your hatred of the ignoble makes you noble. But when you hate, you can't let go. This is your connection to him on Earth.'

_Shit. _Their base on the moon was too bare and the structures were too tall, and Gaillard could not help but be assaulted with useless truths whenever he was caught in a shadow. It was easier when he could just do good things, and convince himself that he was a good man.

He would never admit it.

* * *

><p>Gaillard's literal blow was not as bracing as the one which he landed in words. Kai put into practice what he had learnt ever since he stopped going solo, which was to treat each moment as an end in itself. The present was where they were, where they could not hide from each other.<p>

Gaillard was unraveling, and all Kai had to do was stay where he was to understand him.

_Kai Toshiki, I'm suffering because of you—_

Kai already knew this. What else was Gaillard trying to tell him?  
><em><br>I'm suffering because of you—_

Suffering could be addictive when you think that your pain is unique. If Gaillard wanted to preserve that delusion as Kai once did, he wouldn't be forcing Kai to understand.

_I'm suffering—_

'Me too,' Kai replied, in his mind.

* * *

><p>Kai could barely believe the things he said; the things that he was implying to Gaillard.<p>

_It's okay to hate me later. When you're done with restraining that hatred. When you're done with hating yourself. _

He had been allowing himself to form friendships through all his tribulations, but this was the first that he had allowed himself to be someone else's adversary.

That was a connection, nonetheless. Now he and Gaillard stood less apart.

When Gaillard faltered as he depleted his flames at a rapid pace, Kai took the initiative to come closer and support him. The natural way in which he did it was a revelation to Gaillard.

"You must think I'm weak, don't you?" Gaillard said, just being rude to save face.

"No," Kai replied, "I only do this for the strong."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **The deeper I get into the Semester, the less brain power I have to come up with linear plots. Anyhow, for those who have yet to check the Vanguard wiki, let me leave you with this tidbit from the summary of this week's episode re: GaiKai, "While both of them have different beliefs, the two of them share a connected fate."


	13. denial

**13—denial**

At the beginning, you forgave Kai Toshiki. It had been a windy day when you and Ren were conversing on top of the Foo Fighters building when Ren recalled the spread of the alien epidemic as it happened in Japan, the land of its origin.

"So it all started because of a boy?" You asked, restraining the bitterness in your tone so you would not be tempted to jump to conclusions.

"Yes. It was this boy." Ren said, reaching into his jacket pocket to pull out a crumpled picture which he held up to show you.

It was folded into thirds to focus on the boy in the middle. He could not be more than thirteen years old, yet he bore a sullen look that was unnatural on children. He gave the impression that he did not want his picture to be taken, but instead of ruining the shot by simply withdrawing all expression, he retaliated at the photographer with a death glare.

You think, 'What a little shit.'

"This was the first picture taken of him since his parents passed away." Ren said, quieter than before.

A slight drizzle had begun, and you barely flinched as you took a moment to absorb the information that the trigger of the encompassing evil was a child.

"He's terrible, and he doesn't know how to live." Ren sighed, as if he was talking about a friend. "It's been three years and he's still a terror in these parts."

"Wait a minute, you can't mean that—" You started and got distracted when a rain drop landed on the tip of your nose.

"Yea, he's old enough to swear at now. Just like you and me," Ren said, and unfolded the right side of the picture to reveal a cock-eyed little Ren. "By the way, look how cute I am!"

Months later, you had successfully suppressed the memory of being shown concrete evidence that Kai Toshiki was also once a sad child.

* * *

><p>You were no longer a knight and went back to living a normal life. When once you had kept to your side of the world, you had learnt the importance of keeping track of current events. You did it in the dark though there was no need to keep secrets anymore. After retrieving a carton of milk from the fridge, you sat at the communal kitchen table in your boarding house with your laptop and loaded the blog of one Miwa Taishi. That boy was of average skill level, yet fairly well-connected within the Japanese Vanguard community.<p>

You were sipping your milk when the picture on the latest post finished loading. It featured Kai Toshiki with a sour expression and sporting a crimson, scaly six-pack and a shiny tiara. You spat your milk out to prevent yourself from choking.

After wiping up your spilt milk, you turned your attention back to the picture. Well, of course, the dragon abs and the tiara had been photoshopped, most likely by the blogger himself.

You read the blog post:

_A big thanks to all who have participated in Hitsue Cardfight Club's Haiku Battle! _

_We wouldn't have done it without all your support! _

_Special mention goes to the debates team, who had to sacrifice incensed members to retreat into the icy chill of the canteen's icebox. Your exploits will surely be passed on as part of Hitsue High's legacy~ _

_Well, I hope that everyone enjoyed the wit of THE Kai Toshiki today. I have never witnessed him speak so much, let alone with such poetry! _

_Once again, thank you for participating in our club's event and please continue to support us! : _

_-Miwa Taishi,  
>Captain of Hitsue Cardfight Club <em>

You read the post twice, then scrolled back up to the picture. Ten seconds passed. Then ten minutes. Ten days later, your insomnia drove you back to photoshopped Kai Toshiki again.

You couldn't censor your brain fast enough as you form the thought, 'Is he always so interesting?'

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **It's Friday for me, so have some Gaillard receiving secondhand accounts of Kai Toshiki through second-person POV. The Haiku battle is like a rap battle except that contestants will be disqualified for using obscene references and personal insults since it's part of a school event.


	14. wind

**14—wind **

Kai's good deed of saving the stray cat in the French town did not go well. The cat ended up scratching him and the pigeon which had attacked it had taken to flying around Kai's head. He planned to run into a random shop before getting pooped on, but the bird simply perched on his shoulder as if it was a more majestic animal.

He stayed where he was in the middle of the unfamiliar sidewalk, as still as the statue he vaguely remembered reading about in a children's picture book. While waiting for the bird to move on to an actual inanimate object, he took out a sheaf of thin, yellowed paper from his backpack and reread the content once more.

Those were the letters of Olivier Gaillard, who he was supposed to meet once he could continue to find the location stated in the return address. They had been so-called 'pen pals' for about half a year and hence had got to know each other a little better. Kai supposed that Gaillard was going to scold him for the imbalance of their communication. For every five pages that Gaillard sent, Kai sent a postcard in return. This was due to Kai writing like he spoke (minimally) and that Kai could barely read a lot of Gaillard's writing. He swore that entire paragraphs in Gaillard's letters could even pass as squiggles, though handwriting of this sort was most likely considered as ideal by Europeans.

His latest attempt at deciphering a paragraph was interrupted when he was approached by a bespectacled man in a trench coat.

"Ah, _merci, Monsieur_!" He exclaimed, raising a hand in greeting.

Kai wondered what the man was thanking him for when the pigeon took off from his shoulder and perched on the man's. He inferred that the bird was his wayward pet.

"No problem." Kai replied in English, hinting that he did not speak a word of French for the purpose of subtly making the man leave him alone.

Instead, the man just started speaking in English. "You've been a great help. This one lives like he's in the wild." He gently tapped the pigeon's bowed head.

Since a Frenchman was talking to him, Kai saw no harm in asking for assistance to finally find out what Gaillard was writing about. The one he would embarrass was not himself anyway.

"Could you help to translate my French friend's writing, please?" He said and passed him a sheet from the sheaf.

The man took it from him and glanced over it. "What a drunken hand. Let's see: 'If you're going to only write 50 words for my 5000, then so be it. I shall tell you something you don't know. I shall tell you the meaning of life'…the rest is just definitions of words from the dictionary. Is your friend someone of this town, _Monsieur_?"

"Thank you." Kai said, taking the sheet back. "And he is."

"You're just in luck. Annabel here is a trained carrier pigeon. We usually have a show during the weekends where we send messages for customers." The man said. "She can help you send a reply to your friend."

Well, the pigeon couldn't possibly carry something too heavy, so that would be in Kai's favour. "Sure."

He was given a pencil and a slip of paper to write on. He scribbled a sentence, then returned it to the man and told him Gaillard's address. The man rolled up Kai's message, tied it to one of the pigeon's leg and let it fly to another part of town.

The bird returned faster than Kai had expected. He was finally free to leave as the man and Annabel the pigeon went on their way. Just as he turned a corner, a short person bumped into him.

"Damn you, Kai Toshiki!"

Kai looked down. It was Gaillard himself.

"How did you find me?" Kai asked.

"I followed the pigeon." Gaillard said, surreptitiously fiddling with the remnants of bird poop at the back of his hair. He was wet from head to shirt, having probably poured water over himself before heading out. "My, you're quick at gaining connections overseas. And bird versus cat, really?"

"Wait. What are you talking about?"

Gaillard guessed correctly that Kai had forgotten what he had sent Gaillard and took out the message from his coat's pocket. Kai ignored Gaillard's exaggerated sigh and read his own writing:

_Have reached. Saw a bird preying on a cat. Made me think of you._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **And thus ends the second week, in which I still seek straightforwardly romantic plots to write about. Never mind. By the way, my headcanon is that Kai's English is as good as teenage Haruki Murakami's. Now back to looping "hit me baby one more time" in anticipation of tomorrow's episode!


	15. order

**15—order**

Fortunately, the wounds that the bar brawl which Kai and Gaillard got involved in only left two wounds—the tear on the shoulder of Gaillard's coat and the tear on Gaillard's forehead. After going to the nearest hospital to have a doctor stitch up the latter, both of them stayed back in the waiting room as Kai worked on the former wound with needle and thread.

"Well, Kai Toshiki, what do you say now? It's not a good idea to pick fights with guys twice your size, isn't it?" Gaillard thought he was scolding, but in actuality he was only capable of slurring. He placed his palm protectively across the stitches close to his hairline and refused to look at Kai directly.

"It is not." What Kai wanted to say was, 'I think I caught the habit from you.'

He was seemingly as absorbed as he would be when completing a Home Economics project. At the back of his mind, he was looking out for a chance to discreetly poke Gaillard with the needle. Perhaps a few minutes later, when the painkillers that Gaillard had taken had diffused more thoroughly.

They ignored each other until Kai was done with fixing the centrepiece of Gaillard's outfit and had draped it across his lap. At the reminder of Kai's presence, Gaillard turned towards Kai and removed the hand covering his stitches.

"Go on, make it up to me." He taunted. "Tell me that I look more hardcore."

"I don't think so," Kai replied. "In fact, I can barely see it."

His claim was the perfect excuse for him to lean closer to Gaillard and in a flash, stung the base of Gaillard's neck with the needle concealed in his palm. In the next flash, Gaillard attacked the same part of his body. With his teeth.

"Fuck, you're disgusting," Kai complained.

When he rubbed against the part where Gaillard had bitten him, his fingers came away with a speck of blood. As he left to inspect it in the toilet, he heard Gaillard shout after him, "It's also not a good idea to pick a fight with someone half your size!"

Was this how hanging out would be, hanging out without the order of card games?

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **A short piece today as I need more time to be properly digest today's episode. While the majority of fandom are fuming over triggers, I personally like GaiKai cardfights for basically just being outlets for aggression. Sometimes a children's card game function to teach good values and other times it functions to allow some insecure young men to conduct one-man witch-hunts and others to channel a mythical fire-breathing beast.


	16. thanks

**16—thanks**

Though the stadium was packed even half an hour before the tournament, Gaillard managed to find some peace and quiet on the roof of the stadium. He stood right in the centre of it, as if he was already standing on the set stage. Being alone helped him to collect himself and put aside useless predictions on how good or bad his draws would be. This was not a unique pre-game strategy and once he sensed that another person had stepped on the roof, he was prepared to ignore his fellow competitor to maintain the tranquil atmosphere.

As he felt the other person approach him, he instinctively took a quick look to see who it was. It was Kai Toshiki, holding a paper shopping bag by the handles.

"What's wrong? Still trying to get over your jet lag?" Gaillard instantly regretted letting loose with the trash talk once he had done so. "Sorry. That's my nerves talking."

Kai ignored him and practically shoved the shopping bag against him with one hand. "This is for you."

"What's that, a token of friendship?" Gaillard tried to joke.

"Whatever you like to call it." Kai replied. "I'm giving this to you now, in case we don't see each other later."

Gaillard accepted the gift and checked the bag's contents. It was a dark purple jacket with a collar of black fur and lapels decorated with sequins. He left it in the bag, resisting the urge to unfold it and bringing it to the light like they were in a boutique and they didn't have matches to be ready for in a matter of minutes.

'Being in a clothes shop with Kai Toshiki,' Gaillard mused. 'Would that ever happen in my lifetime?'

The story behind the gift was that Kai Toshiki was a lucky bastard. He had been trying the jacket on when he found a wallet left inside. While still wearing the jacket, he was handing the valuable over to a staff when the owner came running back. As a reward, the owner bought the jacket for him without a care for his objections.

"What the hell, I'm never going to wear this. I tried it on since I thought, 'Who would look good wearing this crap?'" Kai said. "But you would. I mean, think you'd look good wearing this crap."

"Thank you, I am very flattered." Even while laying the sarcasm on thick, Gaillard could not suppress the smile at Kai's restrained compliment.

Then it occurred to him: 'Is Kai Toshiki trying to hit on me?'

The next thing Kai said seemed to confirm his suspicion. "And also, thanks. For hating me." Gaillard noticed the pinch above Kai's nose that appeared for a millisecond as Kai rephrased himself. "For hating me with honesty."

This was not the time for even more honesty. Gaillard would blush and he would sweat and he would not do any of those things in front of Kai Toshiki. He was now truly, honestly flattered.

"Save your talk for later," Gaillard said. "We seem to be a lot better at talking through Vanguard."

"So it seems."

On the surface, Kai looked unperturbed. Gaillard could barely look back at him.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Sorry that there was no drabble yesterday...I think I pulled a writing muscle. I came up with the idea for this premise when I mistakenly thought that the tournament in Neon Messiah is held after S4. And henceforth this shall be called, the Tournament Flirting Verse!


End file.
